Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of drilling and processing of wells. More particularly, present embodiments relate to a system and method for delivering services to equipment such as a top drive of a drilling rig.
In conventional oil and gas operations, a well is typically drilled to a desired depth with a drill string, which includes drillpipe, drill collars and a bottom hole drilling assembly. During a drilling process, the drill string may be turned by a top drive, which uses one or more motors to turn a quill coupled to the upper tubular of the drill string. The top drive is typically suspended from a traveling block above the rig floor so that it may be raised and lowered throughout drilling operations.
In conventional operations, a service loop with multiple supply lines provides services to the top drive from components located about the drilling rig. For example, hydraulic top drives typically receive hydraulic fluid and pressurized gases from a hydraulic unit of the rig via separate conduits. Similarly, the top drive typically receives electrical power and communication from rig components via insulated cables. In general, each supply line includes a separate insulated cable or conduit for providing a single service to the top drive.
Due to environments typically experienced on the drilling rig, the supply lines are often heavily insulated to prevent conduit leaks or cable damage. Such insulation contributes to an overall weight of the multiple supply lines of the service loop. It is now recognized that this weight can make the service loop difficult to manipulate about the drilling rig and that the use of multiple separate supply lines to convey services to the top drive can lead to cable entanglements. Accordingly, it is now recognized that these traditional service supply techniques are inefficient and there exists a need for a system and method for providing multiple services from rig components to a top drive without the use of separate cables and conduits.